Direction From Above

I don't usually write "religious" type posts here because I have a religion blog where I discuss those topics. Also, as my readership has changed, I have tried to keep my posts more non-denominational. But I want to write about an experience I had last night that really reminded me that God is in charge, and that he does care about us as individuals.

We have a fairly good sized church group here in Wuhan. I think if we were to all show up at the same time, we would have 22 people. Some of those members are students, and are extremely busy. One of them is in medical school. One is in pharmacy school. One of them is a teacher, and is required to teach on Sundays. He hasn't been able to come to church for a very long time. It's a challenge to stay connected with these people because we live quite a distance from some of them.

Last night some of the students planned a little get together at one of their houses. One of them is from the Congo, and wanted to cook some food from his country for us. He invited everyone, and some of those we don't normally see were able to come.

Unbeknownst to us, one of them was having trouble finding his way to the house. The student from the Congo had told him to take the bus to a certain stop, and then call him for further directions. I think he must have been busy in the kitchen because he didn't hear the phone when it rang. So this man called one of the people who was riding in our car. I couldn't help but over hear their conversation, and heard the man say, "So you are standing at a bus stop?" Just then I looked up and through the dark and rain could see a foreigner standing at the bus stop. Like I said, it was dark and rainy, and he was wearing a hat that partially covered his face, but I could tell he was a foreigner. I quickly told my husband to pull over and told the man in back to ask him if he was wearing a hat. He had just hung up, so called him back and asked him. He said he was. The man said, "Look to your right. Can you see a car pulled over with the turn signal blinking? That's us!" He came to the car and we squeezed him and his wife in with us.

I think it was really a great opportunity for us all to get to know him, and for him to spend some time with church members. I think God was helping us that day, and it wasn't mere chance that I happened to look up and see him standing there in the dark!